This invention relates to winches and more particularly to an improved capstan winch useful for extending and retracting telescoping tubes in a mast system of the type described in application Ser. No. 246,112.
The winch described in application Ser. No. 246,112 for extending and retracting the plurality of telescoping tubes comprising the mast includes a motor mounted externally on the mast, a pair of capstans and a plurality of pulleys for directing two pairs of operating cables into the interior of the fixed base mast tube and axially within the mast. This drive arrangement is somewhat bulky and heavy and requires several pulleys for directing the cables between the external motor and the interior of the mast. This invention is directed to an improved winch construction which simplifies the mast system including reduction in the number of pulleys needed.